The baby toy market - Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

The infant (0 to 2 years old) toy market is a segment of the infant market. The main toys forming part of this market are construction toys, dolls and miniatures, vehicles, and small musical toys. Specifically, the baby products market is dominated by the toy segment, followed then by the baby layette segment and other baby services. In fact, the latter segments are most affected by the economic crisis, which has negatively affected household consumption in this area.

In 2019, the global infant toys market recorded a value of more than $6 billion and is expected to reach a value of more than $8 billion by 2026, thus growing at an annual growth rate of 3.33 percent.

The Italian infant toy market, after a long period of decline, is now in a strong expansionary phase. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a driving factor in the growth of the market having stimulated many parents to purchase toys for their infants forced to stay in their homes for extended periods of time.

The most popular types of toys among the Italian population appear to be construction toys and soft toys, followed then by dolls.

The market for toys for infants has also been strongly affected by the growing interest of the population in environmental sustainability issues, leading many operators to produce and market toys with recycled materials: for example, plush toys produced with recycled plastic are increasingly popular.

In addition, thanks to the increasing spread of digitization, many stores are moving toward digital marketing through e-shops which are, in most cases, going alongside physical stores. Also, in line with the growing trend of parents to purchase online,many merchants,are beginning to rely on third-party platforms such as marketplaces or specialized online retailers.